The mediatised image of Robert Mugabe during the 2017 Zimbabwean coup

Abstract

The success of Zimbabwe’s Second Republic, from its genesis and subsequent realisation, depended very much on its positive representation of the military intervention to the international community by the international media. This chapter examines the visual constructions of Robert Mugabe by BBC News (online) during Zimbabwe’s military coup of November 2017. By focusing on the BBC News’ online media choices and the uses of specific images in the immediate context of the coup, we get insights into the international media’s creation and conveyance of a visual narrative about Mugabe and how it served to perpetuate a dominant narrative that he was no longer deserving to continue serving as the country’s leader. The image positions him variously as too old, helplessly frail or no longer in control. Purposively sampled articles from BBC News are analysed using the notion of ‘canons of use’ which suggests that Mugabe was no longer deserving to be the leader of the country and therefore his downfall was a long overdue and welcome political development. The chapter unpacks how the visual representation by the international media perpetuated the narrative of ‘a good coup’. Using Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA), this chapter engages with the images of Mugabe and reflects on how they helped to create and shape attitudes and perceptions towards Mugabe and, by extension, the coup. The images, during the coup, perpetuated a dominant canon of use that elicited antipathy for Mugabe and, in the process, served to favourably align towards the military.